s2h Team

Befitting its contemporary status, India dominated the field proceedings in its Super 4s opener against the defending champions South Korea, but shortcomings inside the striking circle, made it to struggle even for a draw. The draw was even seemed eluding, as the Koreans, known for precision and perfection in whatever they do on the turf, once again rose to their vintage level at the rain-delayed contest at the Rajgir Sports Complex. Two hours before the 2-2 draw, resurgent Malaysia set aside the tough challenge of China to romp home a memorable 2-0 win, both goals coming in the last quarter.

India entered the circled three times more than their rivals today.  Despite scoring an early goal — an impeccable solo from midfield to middle of the circle by vice-captain Hardik Singh — it took roughly 40 minutes for India to strike again. In between, the Chinese came out with a brace  of goals due to what one can say as the casual approach of the Indians. A sukhjeet Singh’s intentional pushing of a forward inside the D resulted in a stroke. Two minutes later, hardworking Hardik was in a defensive job when he used his leg to stop a forward pass on the left flank. Umpire was right in awarding a penalty corner.

One stroke and a penalty corner, the Koreans were 2-1 in the space of mere minutes.

India was all over the Koreans thereafter till the hooter, but the Chinese goalie Jaehan Kim played like a man possessed and was, believe it, able to position close to every Indian attacker. Sukhjeet, Abhishek, Mandeep all shot the ball often wide in their attempt to bypass him!

India tried all their three penalty corner specialist in the team Harmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas and Jugraj Singh, but their goalie Jehan Kim, who was deservedly declared as the best Player of the match, and first rushers would not allow any elbow room.

The match began after 50- minutes delay due to rain as India made a bright start in the wet conditions with a number of circle entries and positive attacks on goal. They even won two early Penalty Corners in the second and seventh minute respectively however, failed to threaten the keeper. In the eighth minute, Sukhjeet Singh won the ball in the midfield and played it to Hardik Singh (8′) who made an incredible solo run down the middle, beating the Korean backline and ending his move with a simple finish past the goalkeeper to open the scoring.

Korea retaliated well with two successive goals to gain an advantage in the contest. In the 12th minute, Korea were awarded a Penalty Stroke due to a foul by Jugraj Singh inside the circle. Jihun Yang (12′) stepped up and found the top right corner with a powerful shot to score the equaliser. Two minutes later, Korea won a Penalty Corner which was successfully converted by Hyeonhong Kim’s (14′) dragflick to claim the lead.

The second quarter was a cagey affair between the two teams with India relentlessly attacking the goal but Korea were resilient with their defence. India were piling on the pressure but couldn’t work their way around Korea’s tight man-marking. In the 22nd minute, Captain Harmanpreet Singh played a long pass to find Jarmanpreet Singh on the right flank but his angular shot towards the near post was met with a strong save by the Korean goalkeeper.
The third quarter too ended in a stalemate with Korea holding on to the slim lead. India were doing well in creating opportunities inside the circle, however, couldn’t find the net. In the 41st minute, Manpreet Singh played an incisive pass to Sukhjeet Singh on the far post with only the goalkeeper to beat but his shot went narrowly wide off target. Moments later, Abhishek had two chances to score but both his shots went wide as well. In the last play of the third quarter, India won a Penalty Corner after a long wait but Harmanpreet Singh’s dragflick was saved by a Korean defender on the line.

India won another Penalty Corner in the 49th minute which was delivered to Jugraj Singh this time but he couldn’t manage to beat the first rusher. Seconds later Mandeep Singh was on the prowl as he cut into the circle from the right wing and fired a strong back-handed shot but the Korean goalkeeper made another brilliant save. In the 53rd minute, Sukhjeet Singh played the perfect pass through the Korean defence to Mandeep Singh (53′) as he tucked the ball into an empty net to level the game again. This was followed by Penalty Corners for both India and Korea but they couldn’t manage to find the winning goal. In the 56th minute Abhishek created a chance for Sukhjeet Singh with a lobbed pass but his shot went whiskers away from the post as both sides settled for a draw after an extremely competitive four quarters.

Photo courtesy:  Hockey India